


Grand Gestures

by babywarg (morphaileffect)



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Romance, Short, Short One Shot, a tiny bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphaileffect/pseuds/babywarg
Summary: Tony loves to give Stephen flashy, over-the-top, uber-cheesy gifts. Wong does not know how Stephen puts up with it.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 15
Kudos: 123





	Grand Gestures

**Author's Note:**

> This is me attempting to make sense of Tony’s inclination for grand, cheesy gestures, as inferred from his gifts to Pepper in the MCU.

Wong didn’t know how Stephen could take it. This was the fourth grand display in a month.

He and Tony Stark had only been together for a little over a year. The two nutjobs made their relationship “official” (if people these days still used that word) only a month ago, on their anniversary.

And since that moment, there had been one spectacle after another. First, there was the million-dollar diamond ring that Stephen had rejected. Then there was the Iron Man skywriting “T ❤ S” over Manhattan, where it could be seen from the top floor window of the New York Sanctum. Then the truckloads of rare flowers that they’d had to stash in an alternate dimension because there was simply no room for it in their srsbusiness magical fortress.

There was no schedule. It was as if Tony Stark only did things as they occurred to him. Proving that he was the very definition of impulsive.

If it had been Wong in Stephen’s place, they would’ve broken up after the _first_ time the man hacked all the billboards in Times Square to flash an in-joke that he and Stephen shared, for just a few seconds.

Imagine wanting a lifetime of this.

Wong knew Stephen was serious about Tony Stark, the way he knew when Stephen was serious about anything. When Tony Stark was the topic of conversation, Stephen’s tone of voice changed. His whole body seemed to fall still, as if keeping something close.

And when Stephen saw the gestures…he had no reaction. He wasn’t surprised, or offended, or impressed - his face fell into a neutral expression.

When Wong asked how he felt about this new one, the enthusiastic flashmob making its way down Bleecker Street to the tune of Taylor Swift’s “Hey Stephen,” his friend enigmatically said “I know why he’s doing this.”

But he never explained.

***

Wong suspected that Tony _knew_ he was going overboard, though.

He totally, completely, _definitely_ was not eavesdropping when he passed by one of the many rooms of the Sanctum, and he heard Tony ask Stephen:

“Too much?”

Wong was most assuredly _not_ spying on them when his gaze entered the half-open door, and he saw Stephen shrug.

It was nighttime. The two were standing in front of an open window, watching lit-up battle drones form the letters “S” and “T” in different fonts, and dance in the air.

Tony reached for Stephen’s hand.

“I’m sorry,” Tony stammered meekly. “I couldn’t risk you…not knowing.”

Stephen gripped Tony’s hand tightly. As tightly as his injured hand could manage.

“I know,” he answered softly.

Wong wasn’t sure if Tony had leaned in for an embrace first, or if Stephen had just wrapped his arms around the man, let him lay his head on his shoulder.

Sometimes, when those two moved together, Wong couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

“Tony,” Stephen whispered, as he caressed Tony’s hair. “My feelings toward you aren’t going to change just because you didn’t make a fireworks display big enough for me to see across three states. Or because the diamond on the ring you wanted to give me for our anniversary isn’t big enough.” He planted a reassuring kiss on the side of the man’s head. “I’m not going to leave just because you didn’t express your feelings clearly enough.”

Then Wong heard Tony say something in a heartbreaking tone, one that helped him make sense of Stephen’s answer to him a while back:

"But what if you do? What if I lose you? What if you go away, and it’s my fault, because I didn’t say I love you enough times? I don’t know how to do this whole ‘long haul’ thing, Stephen. And it scares me shitless to think I might be doing it wrong.”

“I know,“ Stephen said again. “You’re not. You never will.”

Wong left them to quietly spend the rest of the night in each other’s arms, while nearby killing machines bathed them in colored light.


End file.
